Photo from Monkey Business Images via Canva.com
In this article:
You’ve almost reached the finish line: closing day for your new home. Finally, there’s relief in sight! If you’re like most military families, it was a long journey to find your new house, pack up the old one, and make the PCS transition to your new duty station. After closing, you’ll be moving into your new home and begin settling into the surrounding community.
Read on to learn what to expect at closing and how to navigate the practical steps of getting acquainted with your new neighborhood.
Review Your Property and Documents
About 24 hours before your closing date, you and your agent will walk through the property and note anything that needs attention according to the sale contract. If all is well, your closing can go ahead, but if there are issues, it may be delayed. Your agent should also ask if you have questions and ensure you have the needed documents for your upcoming closing appointment.
Use this resource for your review: Home Buyer Walk-Through Checklist.
Pre-Plan for a Remote Closing
Closing remotely might be possible, depending on factors like deployments or an OCONUS assignment. However, you’ll need a team of pros that can handle the additional skills required for virtual meetings, e-signatures, scheduling, and general tech-savviness to mitigate disruptions. Talk to your real estate agent to see if your closing should be done in person or managed remotely.
What Happens at Closing?
Especially if you’re a first-time homebuyer, you may wonder what happens at closing. On closing day, depending on your state, you and some combination of real estate agents, attorneys, lender representatives, and the title company will be in attendance, especially if you have a traditional closing meeting.
There is an abundance of documents to read and sign. Keep in mind that transferring property ownership is a detailed process, and the meeting may run long. It’s probably not a lunch-hour kind of errand.
If you have closing costs to pay for, like title fees or a VA Home Loan closing cost, come with wire transfer proof or cashier’s checks. Personal checks can cover small, unforeseen payments.
At this point, you should be familiar with an online closing cost calculator and the amounts tallied, but it couldn’t hurt to run the numbers again for peace of mind before closing day.
Documents to bring to closing:
- Photo ID with the person’s name going on the title and mortgage
- Copy of homeowners insurance
- Copy of the sale contract
- Home inspection reports
- Financial documents relating to your loan
After every document is signed and every expense paid, you’ll receive the keys to your new home.
Possible Closing Complications
To save yourself some angst, expect a few hiccups. Hopefully, big financial problems have been uncovered by now, and unwanted surprises like a complicated title search have been corrected already, but there could be minor problems like misspellings on documents, someone’s unexpected illness, or an accident that forces everyone to reschedule.
More Reasons Closings Are Delayed
The closing process has a lot of requirements, so you might encounter some unexpected bumps in the road. Some examples include:
- The seller owes fees or fines to their homeowners' association
- The homeowner is in foreclosure
- A self-employed buyer whose lender wants more financial information or a bigger down payment
- Staffing issues at any of the related offices
- Military life hiccups
Photo by Karola G from Pexels via Canva.com
Make the Most of Move-In Day
When you arrive at your new address and step inside, it’s tempting to jump straight into unpacking and arranging your space. Before you do, take a moment to walk through the home and complete a few key tasks. This checklist will help you start off on the right foot and ensure everything is ready for move-in.
- Make a copy of your closing documents. The original copy of your essential paperwork should be placed somewhere safe, such as a safe deposit box at your bank. Meanwhile, file the copy you’ve made with other important papers in your home.
- Change the locks. For your safety, it’s a good idea to replace the door locks and update the garage door and alarm entry codes. You can’t know who else has an extra set of keys from the previous owner.
- Plan where you’d like to add updates. Before your household goods arrive, think about any paint color changes you’d prefer. While you have a blank canvas to work with, measure your windows for curtains and your walls for décor. This is also a good time to switch out any outdated light fixtures.
- Schedule a deep clean. If you’d like your bathrooms sanitized and your kitchen daisy fresh, it could be worth your while to hire a cleaning company.
- Update your contact information. Now that the home is yours, you can submit a change of address form to the postal service. Also, you’ll need to notify your employer and any other important businesses of your new address.
- Last but certainly not least, update all of your online delivery companies with your new address. There’s nothing worse than hunting for a package delivered to your old address.
Need home decorating inspiration? Check out Easy DIY Kitchen and Bathroom Updates.
Settling Into Your New Home
Like most military families, when you arrive in a new neighborhood, your kids may quickly start exploring the area and looking for other children to play with. Even if you’re not naturally outgoing, it’s helpful to introduce yourself to nearby neighbors early on—especially before your dog wanders into their yard or the moving truck takes up more than its fair share of space on the street.
A PCS move and a new home can disrupt routines and make it harder to feel settled right away. Give yourself some time to adjust, and once you’re ready, try these practical approaches for getting to know your community.
Exercise Your Mind and Body
- Find a new gym.
- Meet up with a running or walking club.
- Try a child-friendly stroller exercise class.
- Investigate local churches and their groups like Bible studies, men’s and women’s groups, and even yoga.
Network at Work
- Chat up officemates.
- Attend happy-hour outings.
- Sign up for industry-related conferences and classes.
Use Base Amenities
- Try youth and adult sports.
- Sign up for your base’s Youth Sponsorship program or similar “Buddy” or “Mentor” programs.
- Visit base parks and recreation services.
- Check out books from the library and sit in on their reading times for kids.
Take Your Child's Lead
- Join or volunteer for youth groups.
- Hold a neighborhood lemonade stand for charity.
- Bake treats together and drive the "reverse welcome wagon" by delivering treats to your new neighbors.
If you think about it, closing day is really an opening day for your new life post-PCS. There are plenty of good times ahead! By preparing for closing day activities and communicating with your real estate agent, you’ll have the confidence it takes to get through the last steps of your transaction. After that, you can focus on making your new house a home and your next neighborhood your new village.
Get more information on making an offer on a home and closing day with our free guide below.
